Mikhail Khodorkovsky: In the post-Putin era, it will be very dangerous to be involved in Russian politics
09 June 2026
Story of the week: The Russian Drone That Hit A NATO Member. What Romania Has - and Has Not - Done in Four Years Regarding the Threat of Russian Drones
Romania has an impressive list of military procurements underway. Yet these efforts started very late and still have a long way to go before becoming a real shield — not merely one on paper — against the aerial threats posed by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In the meantime, Russian drones have begun falling in densely populated areas. The latest struck an apartment building in the city of Galați, near the Black Sea and just 20 kilometers from Ukraine’s southern border, causing injuries and material damage. How did it come to this?
A brief recap of drone incursions into Romanian territory - and of what Romania is buying to thwart this threat.
Read more: Russian drone incident in Romania becomes fuel for a Ukrainian “false flag” narrative
In Depth
Mikhail Khodorkovsky: In the post-Putin era, it will be very dangerous to be involved in Russian politics
Lili Takács from 444.hu interviewed London-based Russian opposition leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky during the Globsec Forum 2026 in Prague. Here are the main points of the discussion:
Khodorkovsky: Putin could soon agree to a ceasefire, but he would frame it in propaganda terms as a victory against the “collective West,” not merely against Ukraine.
As long as Putin remains alive, relations between Russia and Europe will resemble a new Cold War, sustained by an authoritarian regime reliant on control and propaganda.
After Putin, the transition would formally begin in line with the Constitution, with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin acting as interim successor. However, the real struggle for power would then unfold among competing factions within the system.
„For Putin, loyalty has always been the most important thing. That is exactly why I am sure he will not take the risk of actually naming a successor. The moment he genuinely designates a successor, power will begin to shift very quickly. But he will use rumors about a successor to provoke people and identify unreliable elements in his entourage. He played that game with Medvedev back in the day. I do not know whether you followed it, but some of the entrepreneurs who backed Medvedev later ended up in prison — and some of them are still there.”
Involvement in post-Putin Russian politics will be extremely dangerous, as periods of transition may increase the influence of the opposition but also heighten the risk of violence.
You can read the whole interview on the Easternfrontier.eu website.
Puzzle
What we learned from GLOBSEC 2026. The world is changing: 2026 is the year when Hungarians were not a laughing matter at GLOBSEC anymore
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An American perspective. Ben Hodges: Even if we’re not at war with Russia, clearly the Russians are at war with us. The former commander of U.S. Army Europe thinks we are closer to the end of the war in Ukraine than to its beginning. But can we still speak of the U.S. as Ukraine’s ally?
Cas Mudde: MOL’s early dividend payout showed that Orbán’s government was preparing for defeat, says the renowned Dutch political scientist in an interview for TEFI
Andrzej Poczobut, “Gazeta Wyborcza” correspondent and Lukashenko’s prisoner: In solitary, movement was my answer. I could do 140 push-ups in a single set
Disinformation front: How the Kremlin targets the Baltics - alternative history, local amplification, information laundering, and the legacy of Soviet occupation
A Polish campaign that backfired, and the black sheep in the drone tale [Disinformation Monitor #4]
Bulgaria: Will the pro-Russian Radev be a “second Orbán”? “Radev will cool relations with Brussels, but he does not want open confrontation” - Bulgarian political scientist Róża Smilowa tells “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
Through the lens
TLDR News takes an in-depth look at Serbia’s new effort to cosy up to Ukraine: is this a genuine policy shift, or just another attempt by Aleksandar Vučić to hedge risks facing his authoritarian regime at home?
Quote of the day
“I am no longer concerned that information discussed in talks with the Hungarian government could leak directly to the Kremlin.”
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